Welcome

The Wallaby Hotel is one of the oldest and most classic hotels in Queensland. The heritage listed hotel is a great place for a refreshing ale in the bar, a fantastic feed in the family friendly bistro, a punt on the pokies or races, or a relaxing stay in our on-site accommodation.

We have live music every Friday night from 8pm, and boast a fantastic entertainment schedule of live original music from up and coming local bands and we regularly feature popular touring bands, shows and comedy acts as well as talented tribute bands. See our What’s On page for entertainment details.

We are located just off the Pacific Highway at Mudgeeraba, a few minutes from the Robina Town Centre shopping and entertainment precinct, and only 20 minutes from Surfers Paradise. The management and staff would love to welcome you to the Wallaby Hotel some time soon!

Our Free Courtesy Bus is available Friday and Saturday nights from 5pm.

Phone 0438 354 436 or the venue on 0755305600 for further details.

History

The hotel was opened by William Laver during 1884 as The Mudgeeraba Hotel. The Hotel provided a local watering hole for both horses and passengers and was a starting centre for the first small township of Mudgeeraba. Due to there being no commercial premises available in the town, a post office began to operate from the Hotel in 1892. The name was then changed to the Hampshire Terrace Hotel in 1897.

With the pub as its nucleus, a small village began to grow as the years passed. The opening of the railway line in 1903 began to change the dynamics of the small town. The road was extended east from the pub to the station, and eventually a general store and butcher shop were built in the station vicinity around 1912.

In 1914, W.H. Laver commissioned his son-in-law Ben Franklin to build a new hotel premises opposite the railway station. The new hotel was called the Exchange Hotel. Behind the hotel stood a four-roomed cottage that was used as hotel accommodation and a large yard, containing a feed shed, completed the scene at the rear. Sulkies were parked in the yard and an adjacent paddock for the patrons’ horses extended up to the present-day Roberts Street. There was no such thing as refrigeration in those days and so wooden casks of beer were kept cool under layers of wet sacks.

A syndicate known as Holiday Hotel Pty Ltd purchased the pub in 1958 and Bob McMaster joined the hotel and ownership. It was then decided to rename the hotel. The name “Wallaby” was chosen because an old map showed a Wallaby Creek south of the village, as well as a nearby wallaby range. Additionally, Bob McMaster’s nick-name as a former international footballer had been “Wallaby Bob”. A good week for the pub meant a sale of six 18-gallon kegs and forty dozen bottles of beer. In 1960, a six-bedroom accommodation extension was added to the hotel and the old cottage at the rear of the pub was sold and removed from the site. Bob McMaster sold the hotel in 1979 and there have been several subsequent owners since.”